Investor suggests selling Banco de Madrid

The ideal thing to do is finding a buyer for Banco de Madrid, which has recently filed for insolvency, according to one of the bank's investors, Ram Bhavnani.

In an interview published on Tuesday by economics newspaper Expansion, Bhavnani pointed out that the best solution for Banco de Madrid was to find a potential buyer. "There should have been a solution that avoided uncertainty and speculation," he said, "the best one would be a buyer," he added.

Banco de Madrid announced insolvency proceedings on Monday as a result of the money-laundering scandal involving its Andorran mother company, Banca Privada d'Andorra (BPA). It sought protection from its creditors and ceased all operations until a judge ruled on its insolvency proceedings.

"We have to be patient and let regulatory bodies do their job calmly these days, as they have earned credibility. I understand they do not want investors to leave until the facts under investigation are clear," Bhavnani pointed out.

The Bank of Spain intervened in Banco de Madrid on March 11 after the U.S. Treasury said BPA was "a foreign financial institution subject to primary money laundering concern." After that, a large number of clients withdrew their money, which forced the entity to start insolvency proceedings.

Bhavnani launched a message of support to the bank's workers and assured that in case of an orderly winding-up of the bank, "it had solvency and a goodwill" that would limit losses that creditors could suffer.

On the other hand, the European Commission said on Tuesday that Spanish authorities had all the necessary legal tools in order to avoid contagion effects throughout the country's financial system. Endit